Uni professor showed porn to child, aged 9

Jessica Grewal
Senior Reporter APN Newsdesk NSW Bureau
Working from Sydney, Jessica specialises in crime/court reporting, filing for APN’s regional mastheads in Northern NSW as well as providing national content for the group.
She was previously Chief Reporter at the Fraser Coast Chronicle in Hervey Bay, Queensland where she grew up and trained.
Early in her career, she was named Queensland Young Journalist of the Year at the Clarion Awards.
More recently, she was finalist at the 2013 Kennedy Awards for Excellence in NSW Journalism in both the...

A RESPECTED university professor, who regularly showed pornography to his nine-year-old nephew during sleepovers at his farm, has been sentenced to 10 months jail.

It follows a trial in which the man, now aged in his 60s, was found guilty by a Brisbane jury of indecent dealings offences on a property in the Somerset region two decades ago.

The economics professor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is understood to have been well known in the region for many years before taking on a position at a major Queensland university and later moving to New Zealand.

The past came back to haunt the professor when he arrived at Brisbane Airport for a conference in 2015 and was arrested.

Brisbane District Court heard the man was at the "lowest ebb of his life" following a series of unprecedented family tragedies when he showed pornography to his young nephew on five to six separate sleepovers.

On one occasion he offered to print a picture of a woman performing oral sex so his nephew could keep it but later decided not to send him home with it in case his mother found it.

The man was said to have massaged his naked nephew before telling the boy it was his turn to do something for him but, rather than acting on the suggestion, said "it's time for bed" instead.

Some of the victim's relatives wept as the court heard about the events had impacted the boy into adulthood and caused "a great deal of animosity" between factions of the family.

The man's second wife was in court to support him.

Judge Brian Devereaux said that while the offences were "mischievous by design" and occurred while the man was in a position of trust, it appeared as though he had come to his senses and ceased the behaviour before it worsened.

He also said that given the man's lack of criminal history and the amount of time that had passed, the offending was likely "isolated".

The man was sentenced to a total of 10 months jail, wholly suspended.

He will now return to New Zealand where he continues to be employed as a senior lecturer.